U.S. patent number 5,342,224 [Application Number 08/158,039] was granted by the patent office on 1994-08-30 for parallel street light tap connector.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Burndy Corporation. Invention is credited to John Lefavour.
United States Patent |
5,342,224 |
Lefavour |
August 30, 1994 |
Parallel street light tap connector
Abstract
A tap connector provided with upper and lower body portions,
each of the body portions including opposed concave seating
surfaces adapted to hold a conductor having a first diameter. The
upper and lower portions are provided with a tongue and groove
combination parallel to the concave seating surfaces to hold a
conductor having a second diameter less in size than the first
diameter. This tongue and groove combination provides an
anti-rotating feature.
Inventors: |
Lefavour; John (Litchfield,
NH) |
Assignee: |
Burndy Corporation (Norwalk,
CT)
|
Family
ID: |
27121238 |
Appl.
No.: |
08/158,039 |
Filed: |
November 19, 1993 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
|
|
982411 |
Nov 27, 1992 |
|
|
|
|
792110 |
Nov 14, 1991 |
|
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
439/781 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H01R
4/44 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H01R
4/38 (20060101); H01R 4/44 (20060101); H01R
004/44 () |
Field of
Search: |
;439/781,782,790,791,794 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Paumen; Gary F.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Wasson; Mitchell B. Hoffman; Martin
P. Kearns; Burtsell J.
Parent Case Text
This is a continuation of copending application Ser. No.
07/982,411, filed on Nov. 27, 1992, now abandoned, which is a
continuation of Ser. No. 07/792,110, filed on Nov. 14, 1991, now
abandoned.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A tap connector for connecting and coupling two parallel
conductors, one of said conductors having a first diameter and the
second of the conductors having a second diameter less than the
first diameter comprising:
an upper body portion provided with a bottom surface, a top surface
and two end surfaces, said bottom surface provided with a top
concave seat extending substantially the entire width of said
bottom surface from said one end surface to said second end
surface, said bottom surface further provided with a tongue member,
parallel to and equal in length to said top concave seat, said
tongue member provided with two side surfaces and a bottom planar
surface extending completely between said two side surfaces of said
tongue member, said bottom planar surface angled slightly with
respect to the horizontal at a single constant angle for the entire
distance between said two side surfaces of said tongue member;
a lower body portion provided with a top surface, a bottom surface
and two end surfaces, said top surface of said lower body portion
provided with a bottom concave seat extending substantially the
entire width of said top surface from said one end surface to said
second end surface of said lower body portion, said bottom concave
seat opposed to said top concave seat, said top surface of said
bottom portion additionally provided with a groove parallel to said
bottom concave seat extending between said end surfaces of said
bottom body portion opposed to said tongue member, said groove
provided with two side surfaces and a bottom planar surface
provided between said two side surfaces of said groove;
a fastening means for fastening said upper body portion to said
lower body portion with the conductor having the first diameter
provided between said top concave seat and said bottom concave
seat, and the conductor having the second diameter provided between
said tongue member and said groove; and
wherein said groove and said tongue member acting to prevent
rotation of said upper body, when said upper body is fastened to
said lower body by said fastening means.
2. The tap connector in accordance with claim 1 wherein said single
constant angle of said tongue member bottom planar surface is
between zero and ten degrees.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a tap connector for clamping
two wire conductors together.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Numerous tap connectors have been developed in which two wire
conductors are connected together. Examples of these tap connectors
are illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,699,211 issued to Rose;
2,053,615 issued to Krueger; 2,712,167 issued to Blanchard;
2,963,679 issued to Jugle; 4,169,652 issued to Hockele et al;
4,684,196 issued to Smith et al; 4,707,051 issued to Hall and
4,985,003 issued to Francois et al. While the majority of these
patents are directed to tap connectors for connecting two
conductors having equal diameters, the patents to Krueger,
Blanchard and Smith et al are directed to connectors in which
conductors having an unequal diameter are clamped together.
Typically, these conductors are provided with top and body portions
which are clamped together utilizing a bolt as a fastening member.
The top and bottom body portions of these clamps are each provided
with opposed concave seats for positioning the cables or conductors
therein. However, due to the unequal geometries of the conductors
or cables, i.e. the unequal diameters, it is difficult to
adequately and securely clamp these conductors having unequal
diameters together.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention overcomes the deficiencies of the prior art
by providing a tap connector for connecting together two conductors
or cables having unequal diameters. The tap connector includes an
upper and lower body portion, each body portion provided with an
opposed concave seat for seating a conductor having a first
diameter therebetween. A tongue and groove configuration is
additionally provided in the upper and lower body portions for
seating a cable or conductor having a second diameter, less than
the first diameter therebetween. This particular design would allow
conductors or cables having unequal diameters to be positively
seated and maintained in the tap connector.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
These and other objects of the present invention will become
apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with
the drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a side view of a prior art tap connector;
FIG. 2 is a side view of the tap connector according to the present
invention;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the two body portions of the tap
connector according to the present invention; and
FIG. 4 is a blown-up view of the tongue portion of the present
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 illustrates a typical prior art tap connector 10 including a
top body portion 12, a bottom body portion 14, each body portion
provided with two pairs of concave seats to accommodate two
conductors 16,18 within the clamp, each conductor having a diameter
unequal to its paired conductor. A bolt 20 is used to connect the
upper and lower body portions together.
The tap connector of the present invention is particularly
illustrated with respect to FIGS. 2 and 2. This tap connector 22
includes an upper body portion 24, and a lower body portion 26 to
accommodate therebetween a first conductor 28 having a first
diameter and a second conductor 30 having a second diameter less
than the first diameter. The upper body portion 24 includes a top
concave surface 32, and the lower body portion 26 is provided with
an opposed concave surface 34 allowing the conductor 28 to be
provided therebetween. Both concave surfaces extend for
substantially the entire width of their respective body portions.
The upper body portion additionally includes a tongue 36 extending
for the entire width of the upper body portion 24. The lower body
portion 26 is provided with a groove 38 extending for the entire
width of the lower body portion 26 opposed to the tongue portion
36. Therefore, when a bolt 40 and washer 42 are used to secure the
upper body portion 24 to the lower body portion 26, the tongue 36
and the groove 38 are interlocked, thus preventing the upper body
portion or the lower body portion from rotating when the bolt is
installed through hole 44 and tightened in threaded hole 46 in the
body portions.
As shown in FIG. 4, the tongue 36 is not entirely perpendicular
with respect to the groove 38 and contains a slight angle on its
clamping surface. This angle compensates for upper body tilt
associated with variations in large conductor diameter and helps to
maintain constant contact pressure on the smaller diameter
conductor. It has been found that this angle typically should be in
the range of from zero to ten degrees, with an optimal angle of
between three and five degrees. Generally, as the diameters of the
conductors approach each other in size, the angle would decrease
and would approach zero degrees. Conversely, as the difference in
diameters of the conductors would increase, the angle of the tongue
with respect to the horizontal would also increase.
Although it has been found that the present invention has
particular utility in the power line environment, it can be
utilized in any instance in which a connector is used to couple two
conductors, each having a dissimilar diameter to each other. It is
also noted that the upper body portion 24 and the lower body
portion 26 can be formed by extruded aluminum, or in some
situations by cast aluminum.
To those skilled in the art to which this invention relates, many
changes in construction and widely differing embodiments and
applications of the invention will suggest themselves without
departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The
disclosure and the description herein are merely illustrative and
are not intended to be in any sense limiting.
* * * * *